Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has apparently given up on another battle front: Stopping America’s young women from being forced into military combat. That isn’t exactly what he said this week when asked his views on whether women should be made to register for the draft, but it’s the logical outcome of his…
On Wednesday, families got one step closer to finally being able to access the most expansive education choice option of any state. A trial court judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against Nevada’s nearly universal education savings account (ESA) program. The suit, Duncan v. State of Nevada, challenged the…
Juggling work and family life is hard. On Wednesday the Labor Department made it even harder for millions of salaried workers. The administration’s new overtime regulations will effectively turn them into hourly employees. The regulation won’t increase their earnings, but it will greatly reduce their control over their schedules. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires…
Thanks to the work of a bipartisan team of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives, federal civil asset forfeiture reform is a significant step closer to reality. On Thursday, Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., John Conyers, D-Mich., Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc., and Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, introduced the DUE PROCESS Act, a bill that would dramatically…
Iran is demanding the U.S. pay for 63 years of “spiritual and material damage.” The Iranian parliament cited examples of U.S. “hostile action” towards Tehran such as alleged U.S. support for a 1953 military coup in Iran. Iran is one of the leading state sponsors of terrorism and has a long history of inciting violence in…
The Obama administration is aggressively defending costly renewable energy initiatives for the Department of Defense. By forcing its political agenda onto the military, the Obama administration prioritizes inefficient renewable energy initiatives at the expense of U.S. military strength and taxpayers. These requirements mandate that the Department of Defense produce or procure “not less than 25…
Lt. Colonel Nahida Ahmad Rashid is a top ranking female commander in the peshmerga, the army of the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. Peshmerga (meaning “those who face death”) are proving to be the most effective force in the Middle East fighting the Islamic State, or ISIS. Having fought bravely alongside other (all male) regiments…
Chinese activities in cyberspace regularly garner a great deal of attention. Chinese hackers have been accused of stealing millions of records from U.S. government databases, such as the Office of Personnel Management, as well as various corporations. Chinese leadership sees information as inextricably linked to not only the broader national interest, but also to regime…
The U.S. military seems to be breaking. Senior military leaders have made dire statements before Congress, and story after story is revealing the potentially deadly challenges facing our men and women in uniform. As Congress considers the annual defense authorization bill, here are six clear, real-world examples of why Congress needs to use the defense…
It should be common sense that every person is entitled to privacy when using the restroom, changing, or showering, but unfortunately, some have eliminated common sense from the discussion. What else can explain the decision by dozens of school districts across the country, retailing giant Target, and even the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice…
There was some big news in the entertainment industry recently as the television show “Nashville” was cancelled after four seasons. As a casual fan of the show and a Nashville resident, I enjoyed watching the show. It allowed me to brag to my friends about where I live, plus the music was always on point. Obviously,…
This week, the House is expected to markup its child nutrition bill, which covers programs such as school meals. The last child nutrition bill–the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010–made it possible for many children from middle-class and wealthy families to receive free school meals. The House should end this wasteful policy, known as the…
President Barack Obama, the titular head of the LGBT movement, has added to the firestorm of confusion, misunderstanding, and fury surrounding the transgender bathroom debate by threatening schools with loss of federal funding unless they allow students to join the sex-segregated restroom, locker room, and sports teams of their chosen gender, without regard to biological…
You may not know it, but May is World Trade Month. According to Stefan M. Selig, U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade: Every year, World Trade Month—designated for the month of May—gives us the opportunity to acknowledge the importance of global trade, and look back at the economic advancements we have made as…
South Florida Synagogue Plot On April 29, James Gonzalo Medina was arrested for attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction to attack a Florida synagogue. While the investigation has shown no direct affiliation to an international terrorist group, Medina desired to attribute the attack to an international Islamist terror organization. This is the 85th…
The Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling on Monday in the consolidated challenge to Obamacare’s requirement that nonprofit employers collaborate in the provision of employee health insurance coverage that includes abortion-inducing drugs and devices. This is a victory, not only for the Little Sisters, but for all individuals and organizations who step outside the four…
The Obama economy has been tough on America’s working families. Just last week Pew Research Center reported that in the last 15 years “the middle class lost ground in nearly nine-in-ten U.S. metropolitan areas.” One cause of this 15-year squeeze of hardworking Americans? Rising housing prices. Regulatory fees on home builders have increased a whopping 30 percent…
This week the House of Representatives takes up the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2017. Much of the debate and media coverage will revolve around a handful of controversial provisions ranging from nuclear weapons to religious freedom. Marine Corps mechanics have had to scavenge F-18 parts from museums to keep their planes flying….
Sneakers, sneaks, kicks, tennis shoes, running shoes: whatever you call them, everybody has a pair. (I’ll die before I call them trainers. This is America.) It seems that there are a thousand brands and types to choose from, whether for particular sports or just lounging around in comfort. But Congress is about to force men…
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized new transgender regulations for Obamacare on Friday. These regulations threaten the religious liberty, freedom of conscience, and independent medical judgment of health care professionals. And, just as they did in the transgender school policy the Obama administration announced this morning, the administration has created these new Obamacare…